ALTON tackles Pantami over directive to NCC on voicemail service

THE Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has reacted to the directive given by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to the effect that the NCC must immediately ensure that issues regarding automatic voicemails are addressed on all existing phone lines in the country.

ALTON, in a statement signed by its chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo 0and  Mr  Gbolahan Awonuga, Head, Operations, said its attention had been drawn to yet another directive by the minister on the deactivation of voice mail protocol by  service providers’ Network. The association said it believed that the minister was misquoted.

The statement reads: “Our position on Voicemail Directive by the minister is clear that Voicemail (VM) is a value-added service and that only those who opt-in should have it.

“The current practice on some networks is that once you call and the recipient doesn’t pick, you get a voice prompt saying that the subscriber is not available and asking you to record a voice message ‘after the tone’ .

“For the avoidance of doubt,  you (as a consumer) are not billed anything, but if you delay, you may be charged for a few seconds or for the time it takes you to record the message. The recipient of the voice mail does not get charged for listening. It is free.

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“VM is a value added service and it should only be provisioned for those who expressly request for it. It may be recalled that  MNOs reintroduced the VM facility to discourage people who “flash” continuously. Flashing wastes newtwork resources and also degrades QoS reporting. This should not, however, justify the practice the way it is being done by some networks.

“However, this is not a major “policy issue” within the meaning of S. 23&24 of the NCA which empower the minister to formulate “general policy for the communications sector…” (after consultations organised by the NCC). It is a mere operational/consumer protection issue which the ministry can simply call NCC’s attention to.

“It is a purely consumer related issue that the minister refers to as a major policy issue and it also amounts to unnecessary interference by the minister contrary  to Section 25  subsections 1 & 2 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.”

It is recalled that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, last week ordered the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to immediately ensure that issues regarding automatic voicemails are addressed on all existing phone lines in the country.

In a statement signed by Mrs Uwa Suleiman, spokesperson for the minister, Pantami said attention was drawn to the latest trend of financial exploitation by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in the country.

He said the exploitation was through the automatic activation of the Voicemail Service on their platforms.

The minister explained that based on the recent reports reaching his office, the practice has gained momentum in recent times, adding that voicemail service should be accessed at the discretion of the subscriber and not by default.

Nigerian Tribune